Hamilton reacts to Bencivengo conviction, resignation at council meeting

By Michael Macagnone, hamiltoninfocus.blogspot.com

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

HAMILTON — When the Hamilton Town Council started its meeting Tuesday night, a jury had convicted the mayor some five hours earlier.

One of the primary topics of discussion then, was the bevy of issues surrounding the case and the mayor’s conviction and resignation. Bencivengo was convicted of taking $12,400 in bribes from the FBI’s cooperating witness, Marliese Ljuba, in exchange for his influence with the local school board.

Shortly into the meeting, Ricci said the mayor has said he will resign Wednesday afternoon. Once he resigns, Council President Kevin Meara will take over as mayor temporarily, Township Attorney Lindsay Burbage said.

“I’m ready to for whatever we have to do,” Meara said.

In 15 days, the municipal Republican committee will provide three nominees to town council. The council would then select one of those three to serve as mayor until next November. Then, he said there would be a special election to fill the rest of Bencivengo’s term, which lasts until 2015.

The members of the public who spoke all mentioned some part of the Bencivengo scandal, and some in a more personal way. Resident Christopher Bran, a veteran, said he was offended by the mayor’s name on the recently dedicated Naval Memorial in Veterans Park.

“I’ll go out there and remove that name myself,” he said. “Someone from the township as soon as possible should go to not only that Naval Monument but also...wherever his name may be to have his name stricken from the monuments.”

Michel Donato, an attorney speaking on behalf of clients for the Christopher Estates, also took time to praise the efforts of the Citizens Campaign in Hamilton.

Steve Cook, director of the Arc of Mercer, and Connie Silakoski, both from the Citizens Campaign, talked about the township adopting an ordinance that would require all insurance brokerage to go to public bid. The town currently seeks bids on all its insurance contracts, but is not required to by law.

“Ordinances are the best protection that there are to ensure that brokers can’t come in like (Ljuba) and do business,” he said. “I’m speaking from experience, knowledge is power.”

Ljuba, in court, said she had paid School Board members to vote for her contract, which was not publicly bid. She earned as much as $1 million or more in commissions for her health insurance brokerage for her employer, Allen Associates.

Donato and others also talked about the problems in Christopher Estates with the developer there. The construction, which was approved eight years ago, differed from the town’s water management ordinances, Donato said.

“That basin, not only is very unattractive as a mudhole, but is also a mosquito haven,” she said.

Burbage said the town would likely need to go to court to recoup money for repairs from the developer.

Councilman Dave Kenny took some time to respond to allegations that he, Councilman Dennis Pone and former Councilman Tom Goodwin accepted straw donations from Ljuba in their 2005 campaign for council.

“No cash that ever came from Marliese Ljuba or Joy Tozzi or anybody else in a brown paper bag,” Kenny said. “Marliese Ljuba and Allen Associates have never gotten a dime from the township.”

Ljuba did not have business with the township, but had contracts with surrounding municipalities such as Robbinsville and Hightstown. Ljuba said she used Joy Tozzi, the current business administrator for Robbinsville, to make “straw” cash donations to political campaigns.

Nick DeMaria, a junior at Notingham High School, posed a question to the council.

“In the wake of mayor bencivengo’s verdict what would be an appropriate response to a young person who questions the integrity of local polticians?” he said.

“Questioning is something our young folks don’t do a lot any more,” Meara said. “You’re going to have to go along with the fact that you need to question things.”

Pone also responded.“One or two bad eggs don’t spoil the whole bunch,” he said.